How a simple bit of trust can foster worker honesty
But for trust to be effective, it requires a departure from traditional control systems that are still common in today’s business world
In Hong Kong, we like to think of ourselves as honest, and by and large we are. But both here and around the world there is a problem. Keeping honest people honest is not the easiest of tasks.
From fiddling expenses to taking home a laptop and “forgetting” where it has gone, most offices have seen this type of low-level dishonesty and managers have to deal with it on a daily basis.
So just how do you keep the “honest majority” honest in the face of temptations to give themselves a little perk?
The standard model of control is that organisations use a combination of a carrot and stick to prevent their employees from pursuing dysfunctional or inefficient behaviours.
However, new research from the UNSW Business School suggests a simple, trusting approach with your staff can work well.
While there are always a few bad apples try to find loopholes to put their hand in the till, most people do not carefully plot their way to maximise their self-interests. Instead, most people are inherently honest and will feel uncomfortable committing acts of dishonesty.
As an example, consider this. Suppose you are walking down to Causeway Bay one afternoon and you spot a HK$100 note (US$12.82) on the ground – it looks like someone has carelessly dropped their money. There is no one else there to witness what you do next. What would you do?
